A message from the Chairman of the Cultural Organisation-Short Film Festival in Drama Mr.Anestis Terzis

Administration

A message from the Chairman of the Cultural Organisation

Short Film Festival in Drama

Mr. Anestis Terzis

Short Film Festival in Drama

It has been 40 years since a group of friends decided
to create a cinema club. On 27 December 1977, the founding General Assembly
takes place in the Chamber of Commerce and, on 12 April 1978, the first Board
of Directors is elected.

1987 was the key year for the festival. It is
the year when the Municipality of Drama assumes the responsibility for the Festival and
the Ministry of Culture, under the leadership of the unforgettable Melina
Mercouri, secures the town of Drama
as the place where the Festival will take place.

The thirty years of responsibility of the Municipality of Drama for the course of the Festival are
highly satisfactory. All the Mayors placed the institution above everything.
They understood that it is our comparative advantage. This is why the festival,
despite facing many difficulties, managed to survive and become a winner in our
days. During this time, it also managed to become International and it has
succeeded in becoming world-famous. It has been recognized by all the
Cinematographic Organizations and it breaks one record after another in terms
of entries. We can now say with certainty that our experience is given. This experience
forces us to turn over a new leaf as far as the history of the institution is
concerned.

However, it is our choice to work more
professionally, as this is what the new era demands. It is important for the Short
Film Festival in Drama to "reach out" in Greece
and Europe, seeking strategic
"investors". An endeavor that is difficult and dangerous at the same
time, if it is not guaranteed that it is an institution of the town and the
citizens of Drama, which must be guaranteed by the Municipality of Drama.

Our strategic goal
remains that the town of Drama must be the
representative of Greece
in the short film.

The new era has already begun and things are
looking up. The state actually stands by us. The financial support and keen
interest in the future of the institution testify to this. The confirmation of
this interest is the contract signed between the Municipality
of Drama and the Hellenic Open
University, concerning the Film Festival and the establishment of a FilmSchool
in our town. The private sector also joined in. It has undertaken the architectural
study of the tobacco warehouse in Perdika
Street in order that, with the financial support
of the state, it will become the largest cultural infrastructure in the broader
region.

It is now visible that the Short Film Festival
in Drama, after forty years of activity, is crossing over to a new era.